SAN DIEGO -- Less than 70 miles south of San Diego, professional golfer Tiger Woods and a well-financed developer is building a world-class resort and oceanfront golf course.

Woods is bringing his name and his connections to Ensenada, Mexico, and city officials said they are thrilled to have him and his checkbook.

However, some have told the 10News I-Team that the project is stealing a piece of history and is not being welcomed by everyone.

"I think we're going to have one spectacular golf course," Woods said in footage promoting the project.

By 2011, a golf course designed by Woods will be open. But under what will soon be greens and driving ranges is some unique property, according to anthropologist Mike Wilken, who lives in Ensenada.

"We would lose the possibility of understanding 10,000 to 12,000 years of our history," said Wilken.

Wilken is an American and Mexican citizen and teaches at San Diego State University. He studies the history of human migration.

"All of that information is in the ground and could be destroyed if it's not properly excavated or the ground is destroyed for this golf course," said Wilken.

However, it is tough to stop a $400-million project, especially when the Mexican government has signed off on it.

The I-Team was able to obtain a copy of a letter from the Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History. The group gave Woods and his developer permission to build on the site. They said there is nothing left to be discovered in the area.

Wilkins said the government did not look hard enough.

"It's a very different situation from Southern California where there's hundreds of archaeologists," said Wilken.

Preservation laws are tougher in the U.S., but those protections are not in place in Mexico.

"What if there's nothing there? What if there are no bones, no ruins, nothing?" asked 10News reporter Mitch Blacher.

Wilken replied, "We know that there are sites there, many archaeological sites."

Mexican officials said they love the project, and the builder said it would bring 2,000 jobs to Ensenada during construction and 350 jobs once the resort is open.

Wilken and more than 1,500 people who have signed a petition to stop the project said there are artifacts still underground and the government did not look hard enough.

Land manager Marco Gonzalez gave the I-Team a tour of the area.

"Is there anything of historical significance as you're walking around, driving around?" asked Blacher.

"Nothing historical; only shells," said Gonzalez.

"No arrows? No bones? No paintings on the walls?"

"Nothing."

It was only as the I-Team was about to leave that they spotted several holes in the ground.

"How many holes?" asked Blacher.

Gonzalez said, "Ten or 12."

The dig sites are 4 inches deep, and critics questioned why the Mexican government had only 12 dig sites for 111 acres of land.

Moisis Santos Mena, who works with Wilken, said, "I'm sure Tiger Woods is a very neat guy, but maybe he doesn't know exactly what's going on here."

He also said Woods and his developer, The Flagship Group, chose to build their resort in Mexico because they knew there would be less scrutiny to get the project cleared.

A spokeswoman for Woods and the developer defended the project, saying they only want to build a world-class resort.

"Both Tiger Woods and The Flagship Group have gone into this from the beginning to working very close with the community and being the best neighbors possible," she said.

The I-Team found that the owner of The Flagship Group and Woods' co-investor has not always been perceived as the best neighbor.

Texas billionaire B.J. "Red" McCombs has owned several sports franchises, including the Minnesota Vikings and has also built other world-class resorts.

One resort in Colorado was delayed 18 months after environmental protests forced the U.S. Forest Service to conduct an 18-month investigation on the resort's environmental impact.

Many people in Ensenada told the I-Team that the only reason Woods is building his resort for millionaires in Mexico is because he may be able to get away with more in Mexico than he could in the U.S.

Despite that, the entire area is on schedule to become one of the most high-class, wealthy golf resorts in the world by 2011.

The resort will be exclusive, and it will include homes on the property expected to be priced between $3 million and $10 million.